He admitted to his sexual interest in children, discussing torturing children, and making a video showcasing the mutilation of a rat.[2]

Pochi was ordered to be held without bail, and magistrate Kathleen Tomlinson ordered him to undergo a mental evaluation.[7]

On Wednesday April 20, 2016, Brooklyn Federal Judge Pamela Chen threw out a lawsuit in which Grief had claimed that not being allowed to keep plush animals in his jail cell was a form of discrimination.[8] Grief had argued that he had a "strong spiritual connection with the spiritual essence of stuffed animals" which the warden at the Metropolitan Detention Center did not recognize since he kept rejecting Grief’s requests for two stuffed animals "for his religious practices."[8]

Grief was alleged to have told the FBI that he liked to have sex with stuffed animals, and, in throwing out Grief's lawsuit, Judge Chen noted that stuffed animals are considered "contraband" in prison, and because he does not belong to an actual religion "the presence of stuffed animals is not a religious mandate."[8]